I haven’t weighed myself in at least 3 years. I finally ordered the Withings Scale because:

• I want to know what I weigh
• It’s stunningly beautiful and something I want to have in my home
• I want to see if passive data leads to knowledge and ultimately encourages me to change my behavior for the better

I eat relatively light and well— fresh, whole foods and about 90% vegetarian. In the past 4 months, I went from not having turned my stove on in 3 years (literally) to cooking at home 6 days a week (thanks Mark Bittman!). I drink a bit more than I should (only red wine and scotch), but I’ll blame that on living in NYC— that’s what we do. I go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week and walk everywhere or take the subway since I don’t own a car. In the warmer seasons, I ride my bike to get around.

But I’m 34 (almost 35). And I want to continue being fit and slim.

Men typically gain 5 pounds a decade (women gain 3.5 pounds) due to decreased need for calories. Therefore, as we age, we need to eat less or exercise more. A simple way to do this is eat about 50-100 fewer calories per day, per decade, or increase our calorie burning by about 50-100 calories a day per decade (about the equivalent of walking an extra mile a day, per decade). I want to stay on top of my weight as I get older.

I unpacked the scale, inserted the batteries, connected it via USB to my iMac, and it easily connected to my wifi network and uploaded the first reading to mywithings.com.

Withings has nailed the design and the experience. We’ll see how this affects my life…